Just looking back at some of the many, as Roy Williams would call them, "tough little nuts" UNC has had, Ty Lawson, Marcus Paige, Kendall Marshall, RJ Davis to name a few. The Tar Heels have always been known for having a guard that could score and lead UNC's well known high speed pace.

They, unfortunately, had not been getting that from Colorado State transfer, Kyan Evans, up to this point. But, we did see a flash at the end of the Kentucky win from Derek Dixon.

Finally, Hubert Davis made a change at Cal. Despite it being a loss, you saw more juice with Derek Dixon starting at point guard. He gave you 14 points in that game, then 11 in the last win against Notre Dame, and today with 11 points and some real downhill command of the offense in an 85-80 beating of no. 14 Virginia, it seems that good guard play is going to be a part of UNC's identity, yet again.

Is wasn't all sunshine for Carolina. UNC got down 10-2 right out of the gate.

Carolina spent the minutes leading up to halftime trimming down the lead to single digits and it continued well into the second half.

With about 12 minutes to go Jarin Stevenson slammed one down to give Carolina their first lead since the first basket. At that point, the Tar Heels had completely taken the game over and taken some of the energy out of John Paul Jones Arena.

With under seven minutes to go, Virginia, reclaimed the lead, largely as result of Derek Dixon being off the floor. The Tar Heels operated completely different offensively on the floor without him further cementing his impact.

As Virginia went on a 9–0 run, Henri Veesaar had to leave the game after picking up his fourth foul which shrunk UNC‘s lineup down the stretch of the second half.

Despite that, UNC battled through and hit some key free throws down the stretch to ultimately give them a massive win on the road over arguably the second best team in the ACC.

Now the key for the Tar Heels will be to continue to build on this identity they are creating with Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar working together down low, Seth Trimble being a pretty reliable three, and now Derek Dixon bringing the good point guard play back into the mix.

UNC goes to Georgia Tech next Saturday.